With the top three teams set to take on the bottom three in CONCACAF World Cup qualifying, Tuesday's games could go a long way towards determining who makes it out of the Hex and into Russia.

While the U.S. Men's National Team battles it out with Panama in a third versus fourth clash, the top two teams go on the road to take on the bottom two as Mexico visits Trinidad and Tobago and Costa Rica visits Honduras.

As the U.S. prepares for its FIFA World Cup qualifying game against Trinidad and Tobago tonight, 10 fellow CONCACAF members will square off against each other looking to leave this international break in a comfortable position before resuming qualifying action again in four months.

Mexico enjoyed a successful debut under new manager Juan Carlos Osorio last Friday, but it will face a tough challenge ahead when it visits Honduras.

September 2013 World Cup Qualifiers: A Global Preview - originally posted on Soccerlens.com

After the thrills of duel 1-0 derby victories for Arsenal and Liverpool, and the mayhem of transfer deadline day, a crucial international break awaits. With World Cup qualifying winding down, countries can punch their tickets to the World Cup, or fall out of the running as we move closer to Brazil 2014.

The United States Men's National Team did not score a single goal for 90 minutes but were very happy with how they played and their coach Jurgen Klinsmann had nothing but praise for them. The USMNT are not the best national team in the world (in fact, they rank 33rd and dropped one spot) so the excitement for the tie against No.

It has been said that World Cup qualifying in South America is more tightly-contested than in any other of the continental federations within FIFA. Pittingthe likes of Brazil, Uruguay, Colombia, Ecuador and Argentina, who have all graced the top 12 of the FIFA World Rankings in the past year, against each other for a spot at the world's biggest sporting tournament, it is no surprise that despite only 10 national teams CONMEBOL consistently provides some of the most memorable matches during the qualification phase.

No one really takes the Unofficial Football World Championships seriously; it's merely a nice
bit of fun. But even with its inherent flaws the best team ever (as in...ever) is Scotland no one
probably expected the trophy to head to Pyongyang anytime soon. Or ever. But they beat former title
holders Japan (Spain -> Argentina -> Japan) today 1-0 in a WCQ and thus.

This is a part2 and last of these two posts where I am sharing some of the great old goals, mostly
not that famous, or over consumed by media or clips. Don't expect to watch a typical Maradona or
Pele goal, but something really rare that you might never seen. Non WC goals are here. All goals
are historical, meaning they are at least 20 years old (1991 season or before).

Copa America just started to get more exciting, with Argentina and Brazil scoring the numbers that
they should be scoring. Still the team as a whole is not convincing and their defenses are full of
holes. Argentina vs. Uruguay will be the highlight of the QF as both teams got so much interesting
memories in the past.

Israel +575 vs. Portugal -205, Draw: +280; Total 2o -150 (8:45 a.m. ET/5:45 a.m. PT):Despite having one of the world's two best players in Cristiano Ronaldo, Portugal has been tepid at best on the world stage in the last decade in international competitions.

The U.S. Men's National Team were flirting with disaster and on the brink of settling for a shock draw against Antigua & Barbuda, but Eddie Johnson came through in the clutch to help lift the Americans to victory.

Despite it being an international friendly, no one really expected the US to come out and beat
France. Although the US put in a hardworking effort, the same lack of scoring and midfield play
again doomed the US to a loss under new-ish boss Jurgen Klinsmann. I still stand by my view of not
judging him until World Cup Qualifying begins and we get a look at a full, veteran, "A" side US
team.

He may have only made nine appearances for London club Arsenal since his move to the English Premier League from Spanish side Malaga this summer, but already midfield engineer, Santi Cazorla is a club favorite.

His nine matches have seen him produce three assists, two goals and countless key passes that have helped the Gunner's off to a strong and positive start to the 2012/13 season.

Thailand lost to a South Korea team yesterday in the King's Cup. I have no idea which South Korea,
it certainly weren't the first team and they didn't even include the Arsenal striker Park, but
anyone the Thais played them and got beat 3-1.
Coach Winnie Schaefer after the game said the Thai team weren't very fit.

It's been a long, arduous ten match winless stretch, but at long last, it has come to an end.
The New England Revolution got the gorilla off their back last Wednesday night and defeated
Columbus 2-0.

The crazy part of it all? It was done with a few fresh faces, and some unsung heroes. With
players injured, star players in limbo, and an upcoming FIFA International Break, Jay Heaps got
creative, and it paid off in a big way.

Is it Saturday yet? No? Ugh. Well, might as well read about soccer in the meantime. Here's some
links for you to make it through your morning, or whenever it is that you've stumbled into the
wonderful work of The Bent Musket today.

It is something that is bound to happen anytime amid the myriad of problems besieged the local
football.

Never had the ground sentiment of the local fraternity sunk so low following an AGM that was held
sometimes back with all cylinders fired from all corners angered and pissed off with the current
stagnancy (based on observation of the various social media platforms).

With the SEA Games, an Under 23 event, taking precedence over everything, including World Cup
Qualifiers, the PSSI are busy scampering round trying to fine a venue to host the WCQ between
Indonesia and Iran.
The game is scheduled on 15 November, check the AFC website, but that date falls slap bang in the
middle of the SEA Games with Indonesia's Under 23s playing Thailand on the same day.

With the SEA Games, an Under 23 event, taking precedence over everything, including World Cup
Qualifiers, the PSSI are busy scampering round trying to fine a venue to host the WCQ between
Indonesia and Iran.
The game is scheduled on 15 November, check the AFC website, but that date falls slap bang in the
middle of the SEA Games with Indonesia's Under 23s playing Thailand on the same day.

Good to see a large number of Malaysian fans come down for the WCQ against Singapore. Some
estimates suggest about 1,000.
As far as I can make out there were numbers of Negeri Sembilan and Selangor fans in that number and
I also recall seeing a Johore state flag in the away enclosure.
Plenty written about incidents both during and after the game and as these pictures show one
security official was pushed to the ground after he waded into the Malaysian fans during the second
half.

Ok everyone, first I want to apologize for the quiet period here on HTIOT lately. With the extra
off week things have been pretty slow for the Fire and MLS in general. For us international soccer
fans, we have had USMNT WCQ games and Euro 2012 to keep us busy. The good news is that there is
finally Fire action again this weekend vs.

Easily in the Top 250 MLS English leftback specialty tees - order now!ï»¿SNIP, SNIP
So confident in the make-up of their first team for 2012, TFC management have taken the unusual
step of pre-announcing oncoming cuts. For Reds supporters this is like being in some kind of
training camp Twilight Zone.

The death toll is currently mounting tragically in Egypt after a pitch invasion and fire hit Al
Masri's stadium in Port Said on the back of a massive upset over Al Ahly less than one hour ago.
One AP report has it at seven, while another less than 15 minutes later shows it at 35. And yet
another moments later at 40.

If you'd heard of the American Samoa national football team before this week, there's likely
only one reason: Australia. A few years back, they took a beating that would leave even a ginger
stepchild quaking in their boots at 31-0. They're also the joint-worst team in all the world. But
in a successful effort to stave off symmetry, they won what was to be #31 earlier this week, then
drew against the Cook Islands today in their WCQ, keeping them undefeated in two.

Japan lost 1-0 to North Korea in their WCQ, their first defeat of the campaign, but it was the
events off the field that will be remembered more than what happened on it.
Arriving in Pyongyang the Japanese team were kept waiting four hours while immigration and customs
did their shit while ahead of the game their national anthem was roundly booed by the reported
50,000 crowd.